


Fragments of Emotion

by LifeIsWay2short2takeItSlow



Category: Hey Arnold!
Genre: F/M, Mood Swings, car crash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-18 14:27:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15487875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LifeIsWay2short2takeItSlow/pseuds/LifeIsWay2short2takeItSlow
Summary: After an accident, Helga starts being nicer to her classmates and family - but this may not be for the better.





	Fragments of Emotion

The blonde football-headed kid pulls back the bat and lets it fly. Harold’s ball flies out of Gerald Field, leaving him to chase after it, and for Arnold’s team to win with a home run. Six home runs to four. Helga’s team – minus the team leader, of course – shakes hands as good sports. Helga, instead, calls out the next day for a game. The tweens disperse, Phoebe walking with Helga to the latter’s house.

 

“What time do you leave?”

 

“Five o’clock.” Helga kicks up some dust. “I’d rather he just leave me behind.”

 

“Have you discussed this with him?”

 

Helga gives her friend an incredulous look. “He’s only taking me, so he can show off his ‘perfect’ family.”

 

Phoebe nods sadly. She’s the only person Helga can confide in about her home life. Miriam is drunk and passed out more often than not. Bob works a lot and stresses Helga to act perfect ‘since she’ll never come close.’ Helga has been abused at home, with halfhearted apologies in the mornings. The girls walk in silence, breaking off at Helga’s driveway. Bob is already tossing bags into the trunk of the minivan. Phoebe and Helga share a glance, and Helga gives her a look that tells her to leave. Phoebe understands and waves as she leaves. Helga marches up to her dad.

 

“What’s going on here?”

 

“Oh, Olga, we’re leaving early.”

 

“It’s _Helga_ , Bob. And what do you mean early?”

 

He glances at his watch. “Got a big deal coming in, so we’ll be leaving in half an hour. Go grab your things.”

 

She rolls her eyes but otherwise bites her tongue. She passes her mom on the couch. She’s drinking another ‘smoothie’ with Blue Malibu for that extra kick. Helga moves to her room and finishes packing her suitcase. Soon, the Pataki family is on their way to the train station to go to a weekend conference for Big Bob’s Beepers. Helga is writing her emotions in a new journal while staring out the window. Miriam is already passed out again, against the passenger window, with her smoothie in a tumbler slipping out of her hands. Bob is speeding through traffic, so they can make it on time. As he passes through an intersection on a yellow light, he reaches over to stop Miriam’s cup from spilling. The second he takes his eyes off the road, a bulky red Range Rover slams into the side of the van. The car spins out of control, glass shattering and flipping to the side, landing in a ditch.

 

Helga is the first to gain consciousness. She’s hanging from the car by her seatbelt with a cut lip that she traces with her tongue. She is vaguely aware of her head bleeding on her journal. She scans the wreckage, spotting her dad’s face pressed against the steering wheel. Miriam’s airbag has gone off, but her head is against the fragmented glass window rather than the comfortable bag. Alert sounds in Helga’s ears as she fiddles with her buckle. It is jammed, so Helga glances up to the broken window behind her. There’s not much left, and when she twists, she winces at the shard of glass that has become lodged in her side.

 

Taking a deep breath, she yanks it out of her body and uses it to cut the belt. It scrapes through after several tries, and she lands in a crunching crouch. Helga takes out her giant hair ribbon and creates a tourniquet around her waist. Carefully, Helga maneuvers to the front seats. Miriam is her top concern. The woman’s pulse is thready, and Helga’s breath hitches as she saws off her mom’s seatbelt with the shard of glass. She kicks out the rest of the windshield and situates her mom to her back, leaning against the cracked dashboard. Helga pops the airbag, cutting it out to blot the heavy wound where Miriam’s shoulder meets her neck.

 

Helga ambiguously realizes a couple sirens and a cop car coming on the scene. She’s focused on waking up her mom. She tells herself that Miriam is just in another drunken stupor. It’s a lot more comforting to think about than having her not respond due to a car crash. Careful of the glass sticking out, Helga half-drags, half-carries Miriam out of the vehicle. Two officers head to the car to help the still unconscious driver, while a couple of emergency medical technicians join Helga and Miriam at the front of the demolished van. So much happens, that Helga isn’t aware of most of it. Helga rides with Miriam in an ambulance, unaware that her dad is being lifted into another.

 

The ride to the hospital is chaotic, with Helga trying to keep up with the questions about her mom. _Miriam McSell Pataki. May 10 th, 1965. No medications, no allergies. Hillwood Crescent. She was drinking Blue Malibu before she fell asleep._ Once the second ambulance arrives at Hillwood Crescent, Helga is placed in a wheelchair and taken in another direction.


End file.
